MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
By Amy Forliti
Associated Press
POSTED: 06/10/2014
Attorneys for victims of alleged sexual abuse by clergy are asking a judge in St. Paul to order the archdiocese to turn over its electronic data on accused priests — such as emails, texts and data on hard drives — so they can get an even deeper look at what church leaders knew and when.
If the judge agrees, attorney Jeffrey Anderson said, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be required to turn over more of its internal communications than ever before.
“I think it really will give us a very deep insight into the inner workings (of the church) and the conscious choices being made by the top officials,” he said.
The archdiocese did not immediately answer questions sent via email. Ramsey County District Judge John Van de North will hold a hearing on Anderson’s request later this month.
Anderson said he and his colleagues have already received roughly 70,000 pages in documents from church officials as part of a case in which they claim the archdiocese and the Diocese of Winona created a public nuisance and risked public safety by keeping the names of accused priests secret.
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